I am so grateful you shared this article, Rob! Beyond loving its provocative title ("Innovation Is Executive Porn."), I think Meshing nails it when he speaks to the executive appetite for fantasy. I wish I could say we don't have this problem in Startuplandia, but I think we have our own version of it. Instead of innovation, our object of fantasy is "the white knight" - the idea that someone out there (e.g., a VC, a worldclass coder, sales exec) can show up and solve *all* our problems. Maybe it's more like fetish porn, but porn nonetheless. Long on fantasy, light on reality.

Most of the statups work in teams. It's quite rare to find a one-person startup. When that is the case, that one person will have to do everything. A next step would be finding at least one, or two collaborators to distribute the work.

Working as a team, which is the most common way the startups work, they also have working spaces available, usually at universities. At least, that's the way they work in Finland, and in other European countries.

I think "entrepreneurial" is a code word within enterprise. Its meaning is context dependent and can range from "be scrappy" (read:do this without a budget) to "be creative" (read:figure out how to make this sorry product worth buying... without a budget) to "be innovative" (read:figure out how to save our company... without a budget).

Kidding aside, I have met several successful "intrapreneurs" over the years. The common theme is that they were entrepreneurs first. I think Dell's Entrepreneur in Residence, Ingrid Vanderveldt (@ontheroadwithIV), is a great example.

You are spot on, Shane! Depending on the personality and capabilities of the founder, this transition may require a change of leadership. It's taken me years to discover my sweetspot as a founder CEO. I love the early team building, problem-set definition and evangelism. Once the startup transitions from discovery to growth, there are different skills and strengths required in the CEO. Some of us can adapt. Others only tolerate the startup phase to enjoy this later part of the game. As for me, I find that the required routinization (and pragmatism) eventually depletes my enthusiasm. I often joke that as soon as we have a VP of HR, that person's first job is to fire me.

Is it hard to delegate as a startup CEO? Great question, Alison. There are many different types of founder CEOs and for some of us, it's nearly impossible. We hear about the outliers, like Steve Jobs, who found success and maintained obsessive control. My experience is that successful startups require exceptional teams chockful of A-players. The best team players tend not to last long in startups where they feel micromanaged. And if you cannot retain and challenge top talent, your startup is likely to sputter out. (For more on this, see Dan Weinfurter's new book "Second Stage Entrepreneurship: 10 Proven Strategies for Driving Aggressive Growth.")

That said, many other founder CEOs are quick to delegate and share responsibility. I fall into this camp. I learned early on thanks to my struggle with ADHD and dyslexic that I need to work through other people to succeed. For example, if it wasn't for my friend David Amos in middle and high school, I would have never been able to access my locker. He memorized my countless combinations over the years and kindly made sure I could get my books. That was a huge lesson for me. I realized that the world is full of helpers if you are kind and willing to ask for help.

At the end of the day, my success has been the direct result of an amazing assortment of very talented people who have felt compelled to help me make my various visions a reality. I owe them everything.

That's a great insight! I believe that we see what we focus on. No matter where we work, we cannot help but focus on the organizational mechanics (read: politics), as it's vital to getting things done. I couldn't agree more that that focus influences how we see the world. The more convoluted and oppressive the political infrastructure, the harder it is to focus on anything else. And sadly, this dynamic can happen in Startuplandia too. Once it emerges, it's usually the kiss of death.

Agreed! I am painting with a very broad brush here, both for entrepreneurs and CIOs. I bristle at the idea of oversimplifying and stereotyping, and yet I believe the core concept here is worth considering. In a nutshell, our strengths are context dependent. Our success, in any venture, relies heavily on knowing ourselves.

To learn more about what organizations are doing to tackle attacks and threats we surveyed a group of 300 IT and infosec professionals to find out what their biggest IT security challenges are and what they're doing to defend against today's threats. Download the report to see what they're saying.

Is DevOps helping organizations reduce costs and time-to-market for software releases? What's getting in the way of DevOps adoption? Find out in this InformationWeek and Interop ITX infographic on the state of DevOps in 2017.

Chances are your organization is adopting cloud computing in one way or another -- or in multiple ways. Understanding the skills you need and how cloud affects IT operations and networking will help you adapt.